The album also features guest appearances by West, Snoop Dogg and Miri Ben-Ari.

The single received moderate commercial success, peaking at number 74 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Yes, at times it is a patchwork of the past filtered through Legend’s ever-present influences, but the quality of his writing and performance, and his collaborators’ contributions, make it worthy of the awards and plaudits it rightly received.

"[17] Spin gave it an A− and said that Legend's voice "leans on subtlety more than melisma, and his sound has a crisp live-band jump, rather than canned neo-soul static.

"[18] IGN gave it a score of 9.3 out of ten and called it "a refreshing record that fans of music will adore.

"[10] Entertainment.ie also gave it four stars and said of Legend, "it's probably not surprising that he's got such a big head, seeing as his producer, hip-hop guru Kanye West, has described him as simply 'the future'.

"[20] In his Consumer Guide, Robert Christgau gave it a three-star honorable mention (); he picked out two of the songs from the album ("I Can Change" and "Live It Up") and said of Legend, "For an ordinary soul man, he has excellent tunes.

"[22] Paste gave it a positive review and stated that it "has as much in common with the classic funk and soul of Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder and The Delfonics as it does with today’s best R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul.

"[25] Plugged In (publication) gave it a mixed review and stated that "Legend is a talented singer and piano player but fails to maintain his moral focus.

"[26] Rhapsody ranked the album #10 on its "Best R&B Albums of the Decade" list,[27] declaring, "John Legend was all over the Top 40 the entire decade—even before he released one of the decade’s biggest R&B debuts—having worked with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Jay-Z, to name a few.